Maybe I could explain the nature of Japan. Such a wonderful country that makes you feel you want to elope with your sense of patriotism and escape to that utopia far away from home (approximately 5313 kilometres, which means approximately 7 hours flight time, being enclosed in such a tight space wondering how to spend your next 7 hours or so). Yes, I feel a little bit of that mindset: Japan is so wonderful, why can't we just go over there and live till eternity in bliss? Yet, the ugly truth that lies behind Japan's high ageing proportion is also why you see few non-Japanese like people walking about in the streets of Tokyo, speaking fluent Japanese and acting like one. Maybe some "half-breed" Japanese Americans can blend in with the Japanese community, but the rest? Never mind about them. This Japanese mindset of discouraging foreigners from migrating to their country explains the reason why you see more old men and women than young teenagers. Japan. What a wonderful world we have there. The only place I could compare Japan with is the North Pole, with temperatures of around 20+ degree Celsius in summertime and nearly -10 degree Celsius in chilly Hokkaido during wintertime, where cranes as white as snow enjoy their life on frozen lakes and snow-coated pine trees. Yet, the Japanese do not care much about such extreme weather( just imagine a typical Singaporean buying 10 air conditioners to be turned on in a master bedroom. You can imagine that, right? Thinking about how cooling it is, right?). Japan, land of the rising sun. Semi-ironic statement is semi-ironic. When the sun rises, it's almost 30 degree Celsius. That is when sushi would rise in cost; tuna do need a temperate condition to survive. Japan. Politically, monarchy. With some form of parliamentary democracy. I can roughly guess how the emperor will go around "knighting" ministers, just like Queen Elizabeth II. Ah, now the western culture has influenced Japan's lifestyle. Akihabara is one, with clumps of electronics stores compressed together selling every single Japanese brand electronic appliances from your Panasonic plasma television to your Sony digital camcorder. Mitsubishi refrigerators and cars, Nissan, Toyota, you should have familiarized yourselves with these brands. The traditional Japanese prefectures are mainly located in the south; the north is influenced by technology, especially Tokyo and its surroundings. Sounds like a two-sided country. Now, on to Japanese language. Known as 日本語, or Nihongo, Japanese is widely used in Japan, from small shops to large department stores, with the usual English translations for tourists who do not have a single idea about Japan's confusing language system. The Japanese language is written with a combination of three scripts: Chinese characters called kanji (漢字, quite reminiscent of my daily Chinese notes about discussing Chinese poetry), and two syllabic scripts made up of modified Chinese characters, hiragana (ひらがな or 平仮名) and katakana (カタカナ or 片仮名).I prefer katakana as it is easier to write, but apparently, hiragana is easier to remember. However, for a tourist who visits Japan, I do not even think he or she even needs to know how to write Japanese charcters. Instead, the Latin alphabet, rōmaji (ローマ字), is also often used in modern Japanese, especially for company names and logos, advertising, and when entering Japanese text into a computer(technology again).Arabic numerals are generally used for numbers, but traditional Sino-Japanese numerals are also commonplace in Japan itself. These are the few points about why I love Japan. These points are enough to let me appreciate the wonders that Japan can do for us. Utopia seems to be the only word I can think of Japan now. And yes, after this post, will be slumber time. And off to Japan I go.
